1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a wire-cut electrical discharge machine (hereinafter referred to as “WEDM”), and more specifically to a wire collecting mechanism for cutting and collecting a metal wire used in a wire-cut electrical discharge machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire cut electrical discharge machine (WEDM) is a kind of electrical discharge machine for cutting metal materials by a series of rapidly recurring electric arcing discharges between a metal wire (the cutting tool) and the workpiece, in the presence of an energetic electric field. Because the metal wire (the cutting tool) has a small diameter, it may break easily when it is improperly stretched. Therefore, a WEDM is generally equipped with a wire collecting mechanism to cut and collect the broken piece of metal wire, leaving the tip of the metal wire in a sharp condition for insertion through the workpiece again. The wire collecting mechanism of a conventional WEDM uses a mechanical arm to pick up the broken piece of metal wire and to carry the broken piece of metal wire to a wire receiving box, which has a top opening for access. For removing a long broken metal wire, the mechanical arm needs a long stroke displacement and may be unable to put the long broken metal wire into the wire receiving box accurately. Providing a big-sized wire receiving box having a big opening can receive long broken metal wires. However, installing a big-sized wire receiving box in a WEDM relatively increases the cost of the WEDM, and is inconvenient in use.